


Lost To Fate

by HotBeanLad



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Insomnia, Lost - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, future telling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:48:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24205435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HotBeanLad/pseuds/HotBeanLad
Summary: After Harrison tries to show off his future telling, he gets a bad sign from Max’s close future. Neil doesn’t believe him, magic isn’t real, after all. But after another one of Max’s sleepless nights, he finds himself lost in the forest, alone. Well, maybe not alone, he has Mr. Honeynuts, after all.-=-=-This is my first fanfic, all critique welcome. Rated teen for swearing. I might add the violence warning later, but there isn’t any in the story just yet.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 38





	1. Telling Fate

Max was awoken to the sound of Nikki’s hyper shouting, “Me next! Me next!” coming from the activity field. The sun was burning on Max’s eyes as he opened them, shining from behind the bushes across from him. It was Dusk. 

Yawning, Max stretched upright. Had he fallen asleep? His back ached from leaning against a hard, scratchy, tree, it’s gnarled roots poking up from the hard, muddy, ground. Max got up and took off his hood, walking to where Harrison had gathered a small crowd by the stage. 

“Yes, come forward, and I shall freak your mind with your future!” announced Harrison, as Nikki stood in front of him on the stage, with large, exited, eyes.

Max raised his eyebrow from underneath his oversized sunglasses. “What the hell are you doing?” 

“I’m practicing a new magic trick that I’ve wanted to try for a while, want to try it after Nikki? I’m a little rusty, since this is my first time trying it, but the more tries the better!”

“Yeah, no thanks.” Not after what happened last time Harrison tried to use magic on him, Max was not going through that again. He shuddered at the memory, three whole days of puking up rabbits, flowers, and other magic props. The one time he actually needed David’s help, the counselors were off watching a marathon in the cabin. Of course he couldn’t rely on him.

Harrison shrugged his shoulders as he closed his eyes and concentrated on his trick. He had gotten a hold of one of Quarter Master’s strange books, and wanted to try out one of the spells, future telling. Dolf, Preston, and Space Kid, stared in awe, awaiting his prediction, while Max just rolled his eyes. 

Neil heard the commotion, and walked to where Max stood. What stupid magic trick was Harrison preforming this time? 

“Nikki, your future is... You’ll nearly avoid a bad fate with... nature?”

“Oh... wow! You’re awesome Harrison!” replied Nikki, jumping up and down.

Neil just sighed, “You don’t even know if that’s true or not! Which, it isn’t. It hasn’t happened yet. besides, you can’t just, tell the future!” Neil still wasn’t over Harrisons act of magic, and now he was trying to tell the future? Ha! Like he could pull that off.

“Oh, really?” Harrison questioned, smugly, and he motioned off to Nikki, she was on the ground, gasping and coughing. She coughed up a stick, something of nature.

Nikki gaged, eyes wide as the stick laid before her, “Woah... I almost choked... that was AWESOME Harrison!”

“That’s barely a prediction. Everyone knew she was going to choke on a stick, she does it like every week.”

“You’re just angry because I freaked your mind.”

“What!? Not true! Your predictions are crap, Harrison, and you know it.” Neil replied, as Max began to walk away to their tent, sleepily. “If they’re so great, why don’t you try it out on Max, then? He’s one of the only other campers around here with more than two braincells!”

Max stopped and looked at Neil, eyes wide, as the small crowd turned to look at him, “No way! Neil, what the fuck!?” There was no way Max was going up there, he had no intention of dealing with this shit today, he just wanted to go back to bed. It was getting late, and Max just wanted to curl up in the tent with Mr. Honey... er... his blanket. Sure his cot wasn’t all that cozy, but it was better than the rough tree he woke up against.

“Max, come on! For science!” Neil beckoned, with pleading eyes. Max wasn’t convinced, why would he care about science? “I’ll give you my pudding tomorrow!” 

“Two days of your pudding!” 

“Fine.”

Max made his way to the stage, hesitantly, at first, but walked up the stairs near the side. He stopped in front of Harrison, taking off his sunglasses and shoving his hands in his hoodie pockets. 

Harrison closed his eyes, as Neil glared smugly at the so called “magician”. This would prove his claim, that magic, was fake. Everything can be explained with science! Harrison was taking his time, but he opened his eyes after a few seconds, with a concerned look on his face as he looked at Max.

“Something bad’s going to happen to you, Max,” Harrison began, “It’ll happen tonight, be careful!”

“What?!” Neil shouted, “That’s the best you’ve got? That’s such a bland fortune. What’s going to happen, he’ll fall and scrape his knee? How vague can you get?”

“That’s all I’m getting!” Harrison replied sternly, a shiver traveling up his spine. Something about the vagueness of his own fortune was unsettling to him. He looked over to Max, but the boy had already begun walking to his tent, yawning on his way. He barely seemed troubled at all, but Harrison still felt a tug of dread at his feet.

Max walked onward, taking off his hoodie and throwing it against his bag, slumped up against the cot’s stand. Max laid on his back, not bothering to bring up his blanket, and glared up at the ceiling of the tent. He just wanted to sleep, it was Saturday, which meant there was a free day tomorrow. No activities, no getting up early, no David.

After a few minutes, Neil made his way into the tent, fuming. Nothing was going to happen to Max, Harrison was so annoying sometimes! He caught himself glancing over at his friend. No matter how much he knew Harrison was full of crap, Neil still felt concerned for Max, as he drifted off to sleep. He would see Max in the morning, and they would go over and call Harrison out for the fraud he was. 

Neil yawned and snuggled up against his blanket, face turned to the tent wall. Max still laid there, eyes closed, trying to sleep, he laid there for a quite a while. He wasn’t afraid, Max wasn’t afraid of anything! Once he was sure Neil had fallen asleep, he grabbed his teddy bear, Mr. Honeynuts, from his bag, and hugged it against his chest. Today would be a sleepless night. It wasn’t caused by Harrison, no, sometimes Max just couldn’t sleep. 

Max sat up, and tossed his bear across the cot. The best way to help him sleep, or get his mind off it, at least, was to go for a walk. Even though it was still Summer, the nights were quite cold. I mean, it had snowed before. Max put on his puffy blue hoodie and pulled the hood over his head. Hesitantly, he grabbed his bear, before heading out. He hadn’t brought Mr. Honeynuts on his walks before, but something about tonight felt unsettling. It wasn’t from Harrison’s stupid prediction, Max decided, he just... Whatever, it didn’t matter. Max wandered out of his tent into the dark forest to walk.


	2. Unravelling Fate

Max scuffed his heels against the cold ground. The silence of the dark night was unsettling for him, the sound of his feet against the dirt being the only sound, other than the crickets from the under-grove, which just felt unnerving to him. There was a full moon out, looming directly above Max’s head. He squeezed his bear tight in his fist, turning his knuckles white, something about that night worried him. Was he scared? No, he wasn’t scared of anything, let alone Harrison’s dumb magic trick. Max stopped for a moment, leaning against a tree, he hadn’t noticed how fast his heart was racing.

“Something bad’s going to happen to you, Max,” Harrison had said to him, “It’ll happen tonight, be careful!” 

Max shivered at his words. That look Harrison had given him, it was... off putting, to say the least. Max decided to head back a little earlier tonight, he was just... he had gotten tired is all. Max shrugged the feeling off, “I’m not a little kid. Er- well... Whatever, that’s besides the point, it doesn’t scare me, nothing scares me,” he announced to his companion, glancing down at his bear, then back at the moon. It had moved, quite a lot, actually, since he’d set out. Perhaps Max had been walking longer than he thought...

A stick snapped from behind the boy, quite loudly. Slowly turning around, Max gasped, covering his mouth with his hand to avoid making any noise. He crept behind a nearby berry bush, the prickly leaves of weeds poking at his ankles, as a large creature stepped forward. It’s large snout, sniffing loudly, as if it was pinpointing it’s prey, it’s large claws, clawing at the crunchy leaves underneath. It’s breath stunk of roadkill and it’s muzzle was drenched in fresh blood. A fluffy, unkept tail, brushed over rocks and shrubbery, almost awaiting something. 

The wolf growled suddenly, as it faced towards Max in an instant.

Adrenaline pumping through his body, Max was running as fast as he could though the forest, dodging stray bushes and low branches. There was no way he could outrun a wolf, but Max had gotten a slight head start. He looked around, frantically, for any means of escape, he needed to think of something fast, or his life would be over in an instant. The wolf was gaining on him quickly. Max spotted a tree just above a nearby river, he had never climbed so fast in his life. The boy scrambled up the tree as the predator stumbled over the rocky river shore, giving the boy just enough time to get high up in the tree’s branches. 

The wolf snapped it’s jaws, jumping up to bite Max, but failed to reach. “Hah! You can’t get me here, bitch! I am not dying today!” he taunted, “See? Nothing bad happened to me, Harrison can suck a dick!” He heaved a shaky sigh of relief, hugging his bear tight. He caught himself rubbing at his teary eyes with his sleeves, he had nearly escaped a horrible fate, but he was okay.

The wolf padded off, following the riverbank towards the thicker part of the woods. She couldn’t waste her time on an unattainable meal, it would turn dawn before she knew it, and needed to gather some prey before the heat of the Summer sun made it harder to pounce.

Max looked up to the stars for a little while, making himself as comfortable as he could on the hard branch. Without Space Kid around to talk his ear off about the stars and planets, the sky was was sort off calming. Even with leaves blocking most of his view, the great bright night sky was much better than the bland tent ceiling. Adrenaline wearing off, Max drifted off into dreamless sleep. 

Max awoke slowly, sun shining the tree’s leaves. Max rubbed his eyes with one hand, stuffing the other in his hoodie’s large pocket, remembering how he had stuffed his sunglasses in there yesterday as he felt the frame of the lens. Yesterday? Max yawned, almost falling out of the tree as he gained his bearings. His body would always find a way to doze off at the worst possible times, stupid Insomnia. Max climbed down the tree slowly, landing on the ground once close enough, kicking up dirt.

The boy dusted off his clothes, his hair was full of leaves and twigs from the tree, it was going to take an hour to get it all out, at least. Max grunted, starting to pick away at the tangled mess, having curly hair didn’t help. It was better to get his mind off of what had happened anyway, he didn’t want to think about it right now, or ever. He could go ho- back to camp, and watch as Neil spouts off about how Harrison was wrong. Max chuckled at the thought, his friend could get so worked up about disproving magic. He was such a nerd, but he was his nerd. Max felt his face heat up at the thought. That wasn’t what he had meant! Whatever, his friend couldn’t know about last night...

Max didn’t want anyone to know. If David found out about what went down that night, he wouldn’t be allowed out of his sight for weeks. Neil and Nikki would probably end up telling the councillor if he told them, David was bad enough already. No one needed to know anyway, it would just be another secret between him and Mr. Honeynuts. Max brushed off his pal as well, noticing another cut in his felt. He could fix it once back to camp, he’d have to sneak a patching kit from wherever they were kept.

After a while, he sat up against the tree. From all that running, climbing, and fearing for his life, Max felt the need to head back to the safety of the camp. He didn’t feel safe out here. Max grabbed Mr. Honeynuts and stood up, shaking off the dirt one last time. “Time to go back, Mr. Honeynuts, I doubt I’ll be able to snag any breakfast, knowing how far I am from camp...”

Max froze for a second, just before looking around frantically. Where’s the trail!? Max could’ve sworn he was following it, just before the wolf had... 

“Damn it...” Max cursed, looking around. He couldn’t be lost, there was no way he could be lost. The trail was somewhere nearby, right? He couldn’t have run too far, right? Max’s heart began to race, tears falling on his knees as he curled up. His throat felt dry, it was getting hard to breathe. ‘No no no, not right now. I can’t, I have to-‘ Max gasped for air, his fingers trapped in his hair, still matted with pointy twigs. Max focused on his breathing, this sort of stuff used to happen all the time back at home. No one was ever around to help, so Max had learned to deal with it on his own. After a while, Max calmed down and shakily tried to stand.

Max had to stay determined, for all he knew, the trail was right behind him, so close it would only take a few steps to reach. Fueled with a smidge of hope, Max wiped his tears, beginning his, hopefully short, journey back. 

‘Okay, maybe it was more than a few steps,’ Max thought, as he continued through the grove. 

‘Maybe I ran a little longer?’ Max continued, it was taking a little longer than what he expected.

‘This is... fine! The trail is just up ahead...’

Max couldn’t deny it any longer, he was lost. He didn’t know what to do. ‘I should’ve paid attention during one of David’s stupid forest lessons!’ Max admitted to himself, begrudgingly. Max made sure to stay as calm as he could, he needed to keep hoping for the best, he didn’t know if he could handle two panic attacks in one morning. Then, he spotted quite a large hill a little ways forward, poking up from the line of trees. Max knew following it probably wouldn’t get him any closer to camp, but he might be able to see something once he reaches the top. 

“It’s settled, then. Hope you’re ready for a long adventure, Mr. Honeynuts.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I detailed the panic attack well, please tell me if anything seemed off about it! I can edit the paragraph if needed. 
> 
> The next chapter will probably a little shorter, mostly being focused on the camp.


	3. Denying Fate

Neil stretched wide on his cot, causing the covers to fall entirely onto the dirty ground. The air felt nice today, not too hot, not too cold. It was a great day to lounge around with his two friends, Nikki and Max. No schemes or outlandish adventures, just a nice day to hang around and relax. It was Sunday after all, they didn’t have to do anything. Last time there was a day as great as this, their enjoyment was cut short when they all had to take care of platypus eggs. 

The brown haired boy opened his eyes and got up. He noticed how Max had already left, he usually got up earlier than Neil anyway, but Max’s coffee cup was lying near the edge of his cot. That was odd, he never woke up without drinking his coffee, he always feeling grumpy without it, more than usual. Maybe Neil had gotten up a little later than he thought, and Max had already drank it? 

Once Neil had slipped on his shoes, he unzipped the tent and let the cool air blow past his face. His smile quickly faded when he spotted Harrison entering the mess hall, it turning into more of a scowl.

“Morning, Neil!” Nikki shouted, shocking her friend as she pounced on him, knocking him to the ground.

“Nikki! What the heck? You can’t keep doing that!” He sputtered.

“Come on, I was about to go to the mess hall for some breakfast!” Nikki responded, completely ignoring Neil’s response, as per usual.

Nikki ran to the mess hall, with Neil trailing behind. ‘I guess it is still morning’ Neil thought to himself, ‘why hadn’t Max made his coffee? Maybe he just forgot, or ran out of stuff to make it.’ The second guess seemed more fitting.

After the two gathered their breakfast from the Quartermaster, mashed potatoes, again, they sat down at their regular table. They were nearly finished, and Max still hadn’t turned up. Neil shrugged it off, he’d missed breakfast before, maybe he was planning something? That would be odd, though, Max never skipped without telling him, and he’d never skip breakfast on the weekend.

Neil couldn’t help but feeling a little worried for his friend as he poked at the remainder of his mashed potatoes.

“-eil! Neil!” 

“Huh? Oh, uh, what is it, Nikki?” Neil realized he was being spoken to, he hadn’t meant to zone out like that.

“I said-” Nikki began, “do you know where Max is?” Neil just shrugged. “Okay, well, we still need to ask him about last night!” She exclaimed.

“What? Why last night?”

“Harrison’s magic trick, remember? Duh!”

Neil just groaned. He had forgotten about that, and didn’t want to deal with Harrison today. While he knew nothing bad happened, because magic doesn’t exist, Neil just didn’t want to try and argue with the ‘magician’. It would go nowhere, even if his attempt of magic on Max had failed, “Right. Well, if Harrison asks, just tell him to screw off for now.”

Nikki just nodded, threw away her plate, and walked out of the mess hall, leaving Neil alone at the table.

“So, I haven’t seen Max with you all morning, where is he?” Harrison had come up to the table behind him. Turning around, Neil expected to see a snarky expression in Harrison’s face, eager to prove his prediction was right, but Neil only saw a concerned and worried one. 

“He’s probably just out plotting some scheme or something,” replied Neil, though he didn’t entirely believe himself, anything to get Harrison off his back. Neil stood up to throw away his plate as well, and headed out the door to find Nikki.

Harrison just stood there for a moment, before shrinking back to his seat to finish his food, but he just poked at it, he wasn’t exactly in the mood to eat. 

Neil stepped outside and glanced around, but couldn’t find Nikki anywhere, so he decided to go back to his tent for a while, Max was probably just hanging out inside. Entering the tent, Neil only found two empty cots, and their stuff thrown around it, messily. Looking around, Neil spotted a blue hoodie in his friend’s bag. Max’s parents had sent him an extra last time the campers received mail, but Neil couldn’t spot the second one anywhere.

That relieved Neil, knowing his friend had left on his own terms. Neil thought he would probably see his friend sometime at lunch, if not before then. He left the tent to continue to look for Nikki, thinking his friend was perfectly fine. 

Max, on the other hand, thought differently. Much, much differently. His legs ached from all the walking, and his arms ached from the scratches of low branches. Everything was not fine, but at least he had a plan to get back. Mr. Honeynuts swung at his side, getting dirtier and dirtier as the pair continued their hike though the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyy a new chapter! Btw, yall can find this story on Wattpad now. I might take a bit longer in the next chapter, cuz I’m taking story requests (if ur interested, go to my profile for the post). 
> 
> I’m hoping to make the next chapter a little longer as well, and more interesting if I can. We’re finally getting into more of the storyline!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first every fanfic, so sorry if it seems off. All critique is welcome, even picking at bad stuff! I’m going to write more soon, and if people seem to like it, I’ll try to write faster for you guys! Hope you guys like where the story is heading so far!


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